Category: Borrower Stories
-
How Leslie Rosella Turned Her Passion For Four-Legged Friends Into A Growing Doggie Day Care
For as long as she can remember, Leslie Rosella has loved animals. Pursuing a bright career in the restaurant industry, it never occurred to her that she could turn her childhood love into a profession. That was the case, at least, until she got Brixx: a purebred Rottweiler that Leslie and her boyfriend, Chris Cooley,…
-
Meet Cortaiga Collins, Whose Quest For Quality Childcare Led Her To Open Her Own Small Business
Cortaiga Collins never intended to open her own business, let alone her own early childhood education center. Instead, Cortaiga received her bachelor’s degree and was on track to become a CPA. However, when she had her second child in 2000, everything changed. After having her first child as a senior in high school, Cortaiga felt…
-
How Fern Street Circus is Bringing Social Change to the Streets of San Diego
When most people think about social justice, they don’t think about circus arts; however, for John Highkin, social change is at the center of his community arts nonprofit, Fern Street Circus. John grew up in Los Angeles and became a musician before moving to England to get a master’s degree in English. In 1987, while…
-
How a Cancer Diagnosis Gave Ethel Brooks the Strength to Start Her Own Business
For many people, a cancer diagnosis can derail them. For Ethel Brooks, it ignited her. It was January 2017 when Ethel learned that she had breast cancer. Her mind instantly concocted the worst-case scenario, and her first thought was about what she was going to leave behind for her three daughters and seven grandchildren if…
-
How McAuley Residence and The Genesis Fund are Redefining (and Rolling Out) Recovery Centers Across Maine
For over 30 years, McAuley Residence has been a safe place for women in need in Portland, Maine. When the opioid crisis hit 13 years ago, however, the residence — a longstanding project of The Sisters of Mercy — needed to rethink its services. “We were seeing a significant need for women with children who…
-
Meet Montina Young, The CDFI (and YouTube) Enthusiast Helping Other Entrepreneurs Succeed
At CNote, we consider ourselves to be the CDFI industry’s biggest cheerleader. Then we met Montina Young. When Montina was just 18 months old, her mother abandoned her. She was raised by an aunt, but she ended up homeless when she was 16 years old. Still, Montina managed to get her GED, and she hasn’t…
-
Meet Dr. Alexia McClerkin, The Full-Time Student, Mom, and Entrepreneur Behind The Beauty and Wellness Doc
From the time that Dr. Alexia McClerkin broke her ankle in high school, she knew she wanted to become a doctor. Although Alexia didn’t end up pursuing a career as an orthopedic surgeon as she’d originally intended when she matriculated at Michigan State, she instead chose to study kinesiology so that she could work with…
-
Meet Tanesha Sims-Summers, The Poppin-With-A-Purpose Entrepreneur Behind Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co.
Tanesha Sims-Summers has been an entrepreneur since she was a little girl when she would weave her way through the gridlocked traffic waiting to get into Birmingham’s Legion Field for the Alabama-Auburn football games, selling homemade popsicles for 50 cents as she went from car to car. Tanesha went on to graduate high school, and…
-
How Two Disabled Veterans Turned Their Log Home Living Dreams Into A Lakeside Resort Reality
When Aimee and Preston Osborne met and married in Fort Hood, Texas in 2001, their dream was to one day own a lake-side resort, an RV park, or something that would take them back to their rural roots. Aimee grew up in the Northwoods of Minnesota, Preston was born and raised in Ashe County, North…
-
How Elevation Community Land Trust is Taking Affordable Housing to New Heights across Colorado
Stefka Czarnecki Fanchi has always been a big believer in homeownership. Both of her parents were teachers; however, her dad “built” every house Stefka’s family ever lived in, whether that meant physically building the structure or making improvements to what was already built. According to Stefka, she has lots of childhood memories as a kid…